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Lady Gaga reveals why she didn't clarify past rumors that she was a man
"I tried to be thought-provoking and disruptive in another way," the Joker: Folie À Deux actress explained. "I tried to use the misinformation to create another disruptive point."
Mother, mothering.
Lady Gaga revealed in a recent interview that she never denied the rumors that she was "a man" — a speculation that persisted for quite a long time early in her career — because she never "felt like a victim with that lie."
"When I was in my early 20s there was a rumor that I was a man," she told Variety. "I went all over the world. I traveled for tours and for promoting my records, and almost every interview I sat in, there was this imagery on the internet that had been doctored. They'd say, 'There's rumors that you're a man. What do you have to say about that?'"
Gaga explained, "The reason why I didn't answer the question is because I didn't feel like a victim with that lie. I thought, 'What about a kid who is being accused of that, who would think that a public figure like me would feel shame?'"
"I've been in situations where fixing a rumor was not in the best interest of the well-being of other people," Gaga went on, this time not specifying what that other situation was. "In that case, I tried to be thought-provoking and disruptive in another way. I tried to use the misinformation to create another disruptive point."
She concluded, "I've been used to lies being printed about me since I was 20 years old. I'm a performer. I think it's kind of funny."
New and/or younger Gaga stans might be used to her campy approach to doing interviews while promote films like A Star Is Born and House of Gucci. However, Gaga's pre-actress era was a very different time for the multihyphenate.
Specifically, Gaga's first two studio albums — The Fame and The Fame Monster — included a flood of speculation about whether the pop star was a man or was intersex (at the time, the outdated term "hermaphrodite" was used in these persistent rumors).
Examples include an interview in Berlin, Germany where Gaga was literally asked by a female reporter if she "had a penis." After pushing back slightly and suggesting that the question was offensive, the reporter kept pushing and trying to get Gaga to confirm or deny this information about her genitals.
An even cringier exchange happened between Gaga and Anderson Cooper for a 60 Minutes interview. The singer was already promoting the Born This Way album at the time and felt like the speculation surrounding her genitals was in the past. Cooper, however, brought up those rumors once again.
"Maybe I do. Would it be so terrible?" Gaga quipped back, this time feeling much more confident (and clearly much more annoyed by) these persistent rumors. "Why the hell am I going to waste my time and give a press release about whether or not I have a penis? My fans don't care and neither do I."
At every turn, Gaga tried to spin those questions around and underscore how ridiculous it was to ask anyone about their genitals. She was clearly not offended by the idea that she could be trans, or intersex, or identified as something else when it came to her gender identity — but she still did what needed to be done: make the conversation as uncomfortable as possible to teach reporters a lesson that no one should be speculating about or asking direct questions about a person's genitals.
Paws up, always and forever.
Joker: Folie À Deux premieres October 4 in theaters.
Bernardo Sim is the deputy editor of Out, as well as a writer and content creator. Born in Brazil, he currently lives in South Florida. You can follow him on Instagram at @bernardosim.
Bernardo Sim is the deputy editor of Out, as well as a writer and content creator. Born in Brazil, he currently lives in South Florida. You can follow him on Instagram at @bernardosim.
